Earlier this week, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block sent an email to the entire campus community entitled "A Message on the Importance of Research." In the message, Chancellor Block emphasizes the importance of medical research using animals and expresses support and admiration to all members of the UCLA family engaged in this work. Below is the text of … Continue reading UCLA Chancellor on the Importance of Research
Author: darioringach
A Philosopher’s Dream
A moral philosopher had the following dream: First Darwin appeared, and the philosopher said to him, "Could you give me a fifteen-minute capsule sketch for your support of medical research using animals?" To the philosopher's surprise, Darwin gave him an excellent exposition in which he compressed an enormous amount of material into a mere fifteen minutes, … Continue reading A Philosopher’s Dream
Jeffrey Kahn’s Odd Views on Animal Research
Professor Jeffrey Kahn visited UW Madison to discuss the use of monkeys in medical research. He is the Robert Henry Levi and Ryda Hecht Levi Professor of Bioethics and Public Policy and the Deputy Director for Policy and Administration at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Professor Kahn has participated in numerous federal panels … Continue reading Jeffrey Kahn’s Odd Views on Animal Research
Why Animal Research-based Criticisms of the Ice Bucket Challenge are Misguided
The following is a guest post by Caitlin Aamodt, a neuroscience graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a debilitating motor neuron disease that progressively destroys the neurons required for voluntary movement, speech, and eventually breathing and swallowing, killing patients in just three to five years. Through the Ice Bucket … Continue reading Why Animal Research-based Criticisms of the Ice Bucket Challenge are Misguided
Urge the U. S. Surgeon General to Voice Support for Animal Research
Your scientific activism is only a click away. A new petition in Change.org urges the U. S. Surgeon General, Rear Admiral Boris D. Lushniak, to voice support for the humane, and regulated use of animals in medical research. It reads: There is a growing pressure from animal rights organizations that would deny Americans the health … Continue reading Urge the U. S. Surgeon General to Voice Support for Animal Research
Crash course in medical history
Opponents of animal research often portray two of the pioneers of experimental physiology, François Magendie (1783-1855) and his student Claude Bernard (1813-1878), as deranged, vicious, and sadistic individuals who derived pleasure in harming animals. Moral philosophers Peter Singer and Lori Gruen convey this sort of message in their book “Animal Liberation: A graphic guide”. A … Continue reading Crash course in medical history
Unpleasant Truths vs Comforting Lies
Scientists use animals in research to elucidate basic questions about biological function in health and disease. Such basic research in the life sciences, like parallel studies in other fields of science, yields knowledge about nature. Such knowledge, in turn, can be applied to a myriad of problems to alleviate suffering, improve our well-being, and make this a better … Continue reading Unpleasant Truths vs Comforting Lies
Saving Life on Earth
A recent petition by animal rights group, For Life on Earth, asked scientists to justify their science. Dario Ringach gives them their reply.
Speaking of Research 